Prince of the Blood

Riftwar Cycle: Krondor's Sons, Book 1

By: Raymond E. Feist

Narrated by: Peter Joyce

Length: 16 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Prince of the Blood is a work that explores strength and weakness, hope and fear, and what it means to be a man - in a kingdom where peace is the most precious commodity of all.

If there were two more impetuous and carefree men in the Kingdom of the Isles, they had yet to be found. Twins Borric and Erland wore that mantle proudly, much to the chagrin of their father, Prince Arutha of Krondor. But their blissful youth has come to an end. Their uncle, the King, has produced no male children. Bypassing himself, Arutha names Borric, the eldest twin by seconds, the Royal Heir. As his brother, Erland will have his own great responsibilities to shoulder. To drive home their future roles, Arutha sends them as ambassadors to Kesh, the most feared nation in the world. Borric and Erland will be presented to the Queen of Kesh - the single most powerful ruler in the known world - at her 75th Jubilee Anniversary.

But they have not even left Krondor when an assassination attempt on Borric is thwarted. Aware that he is being provoked into war, Arutha does not rise to the bait. His sons' journey will not be deterred, for nothing less than peace is riding on it. Yet there is to be no peace for the young princes. When their traveling party is ambushed, Borric disappears and is presumed dead - sending Erland into spirals of rage and grief as he is forced to navigate alone the court intrigues at Kesh. But unbeknownst to anyone, Borric lives and has escaped his captors. In a strange land, with a price on his head, Borric must use all his wits and stamina to find his way back to his brother.

On separate paths, the two men - one a fugitive and one a future king - make their journey toward maturity, honor, and duty. For every step they take could sway the fragile peace of the land, as those who crave war rally against them - and become ever more daring.

©2017 Raymond Feist (P)2017 Random House Audio

Overall good

I’ve been a fan of the Riftwar series for many years and even after reading and rereading the books, I wanted to listen to the unabridged audiobooks.

The narrator for the 1st series of books was very good with various inflections and differing voices for the characters. This narrator is less skilled and many of the voices are very similar or the supposed accent seems fake. And most problematic is he, IMO, mispronounces one of the main character names throughout the entire book. He pronounces “Arutha” as “Aruta”, dropping the “h”.

Unfortunately he doesn’t compare to the prior narrator. If it wasn’t for liking the series so much, I’d probably not purchase the remaining titles using this narrator but I’m going to give the next one in the series a chance - just because Audible allows for a return

Terrible Narrator

I love the book, but I cannot even get through the first chapter with this narrator. I wish I read the reviews first. His enunciation of names and other things is AWFUL!!!

story naration

i loved it all the whole story it seemed too short . Definitely recommend the book and good narrator.

Great book but narrator sucks

I have read this, the books before it and those after several times because they are very good books but this narrator sucks. He sounds stupid when he tries to make up voices for the characters and even worse he obviously never bothered to listen himself to the previous 4 books with many of the same characters, to learn their manner of speech or worst of all even how their names had been pronounced.

Bad narration

The book and story are incredible, as are all books in this setting. However, the narrator obviously has never read the series, or did no background research about it because he mispronounces so many character names. One of the main characters of the entire series is named Arutha. (pronounced ArooTHA) this narrator pronounces it ArooTah. Its so frustrating.

If you can tough it thru the horrible pronunciations, its a fantastic story.

Another great book in the series

I coming of age story filled with magic, adventure, court intrigue, and a story arc that keeps you guessing until the end. I enjoyed both the writing and the narration although I felt the question rulers voice to be a bit shrill. I read the books years ago and have enjoyed working my way through the audio books.

Timeless story, brilliant and funny

Great book. Read it as a teen and rediscovered it later in life. The voice acting brought the world to life. Some of the best narration and story telling I’ve ever heard.

The saga continues

Another thrilling adventure into the lives of the people of the kingdom. Can't wait for the next installment.

review

this is an awesome story, but I have heard better narrators, if you can get past that you will love it

Still awesome

I have enjoyed reading and re-reading the entire series. With little free time to sit and read now days, getting to listen has been awesome, while I am commuting or working around the house.
I hope that all the series books make it to Audible.